This post is to wax lyrical on the iPad. Needless to say, I am typing this on the iPad connected via the Wifi. I did not buy the 3G version because there is no need. Not to mention the extra monthly cost for the data plan.

Honestly, I was skeptical about the iPad when it was launched. Another fad, another selfish gadget, another toy to show off just to tell the world that one is in trend and hip. I was still rather skeptical until the day I bought it. I actually thought of getting it for my mom to play games on since she loves playing games. As for me, I can’t imagine much use of it.

To say the least, I prefer reading real magazines and I read either the Economist or BusinessWeek every morning during breakfast. I read real books because to me reading a book is more than just reading the lines. I love the smell of the book that I am holding in my hand. I like to flip the book forward and backward and peek at what is coming etc. etc. I read news on my laptop when I reach the office. I do not really know how the iPad wil change these habits. In fact, until now, I am still doing the same routine every day.

But what then is iPad’s value add to my life? For a start, I realize that I do not turn my home base iMac as often anymore. I can do all my web browsing, Facebooking, emailing all on the iPad and it feels great to do that. The size of the iPad and of course it’s touchscreen technology makes the experience such an easy and enjoyable one. Unless I need to do something heavier or there is something I really need to use Flash to watch or I want to play games, I no longer needed to turn on that giant.

What more, with Apps like QuickOffice Connect, GoodReader, Dropbox, Evernote all installed, I can even use the iPad if I need to do some simple office stuffs.

Of course there are the BBC and CNN apps that I have installed to catch up with some news if I felt like it.

Talking about office work, I have been using the Moleskine notebooks to write things down for the past few years. Moleskine has great and simple design which I admire and enjoyed using. However, I feel it will now be replaced by the iPad again thanks to the Penultimate app and the Pogo Sketch stylus. Note taking using them is such a breeze. With Wifi everywhere and cloud technology, I bring with me not only my ‘digital Moleskine’, I am bringing along with me the files and minutes that I need which I have already stored in the cloud. It is just so convenient and logical.

Another thing that I really like about this gadget is that I can load movies I wanted to watch but cannot find the time or for whatever reasons and take them with me when I travel or whenever I am free. Yes, there is not much storage space but there is enough space there to store several movies. And the screen resolution is good. It is easy to rip and sync movies between the iMac and the iPad. You just need to have Ripit and Handbrake installed and iTunes will do the rest.

I have watched Naruse’s FLOWING this way as well as re-watching BEFORE SUNSET, which I truly enjoyed and also as a homage, some years ago, tried to retrace the lead characters’ track in the movie starting from Shakespeare and Company itself, after purchasing a copy of Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA and get that “Kilometer Zero” chop as a souvenir since THE MOVABLE FEAST, one of my very favourite books, is not in stock. Needless to say, the attempt to trace the whole route from Shakespeare & Co to the coffee shop failed.

Add on to this the current app that I am using to write this blog post, I am free and easy. No longer bound to the desk or have to carry that bulky Notebook around (still I will much prefer the iPad to the Macbook Air although the MBA is also sweet). And add to this, some games to play and some pigs to aim at when I am bored or when I wanted to take a break, and at only about RM1,500 (no need the 3G), this superb tool is great value for money.

Nice, isn’t it?

Many of the games that I keep are easy to play games that do not require like 6 hours to complete. They offer interesting game play, some tough decisions and interaction between players. Some of the games are good to get non-gamers in. And some of the games such as 1856 are long and complex games but I like it too much I would just like to keep it even though I play it only once or twice a year.

So here is the list together with the reason why I am keeping them:

1. 1856 – part of the 18xx series which I truly admire. A superb economic game with great mechanics. Long game but worthwhile. Gives me a great feeling each time I play it.

2. 1860 – part of the 18xx fetish. Haha.

3. Age of Empires III – simple game with some tough decisions. Nice miniatures. Good mechanics.

4. Age of Steam – a rather complex game but very satisfying. Cut-throat. One of the train games I will always play if time does not allow an 18xx game.

5. Agricola and its expansions – cute bits. Good theme. Not hard to learn but put in the cards, the game can be complex and decisions agonizing. Scales very well in terms of players and complexity and the various types of cards make this game very re-playable.

6. Battlestar Gallactica and its expansion – Good and very fun game. Lots of player interaction. The hidden cylon mechanics provide most of the fun to this otherwise quite dry game. But the hidden cylon mechanic alone and the fun derived from it made this a keeper.

7. Brass – another superb Martin Wallace game besides Age of Steam that I am keeping. This is a really, really good game. Each time I play it, I enjoyed it immensely. I am keeping this even though I play online at the turn-based server.

8. Caylus – like Age of Empires and Agricola, this is a worker placement game but this one is at the pinnacle. The mechanics is classy. The game is classy. Good player interaction and very “euro” feel. If I want to play an “euro worker placement game”, this is the game I will think about.

9. Diplomacy – Matured. Evil. Can play 7 people. Real. What a great design this is.

10. Endeavor – Although the mechanics is similar to a few games such as Puerto Rico and Goa, worker placement and all, this game is fast, beautiful and pull everything together nicely and neatly. Our group enjoy this game a lot and whenever we think of a fast and good game, this game inevitably gets mentioned.

11. Le Havre and its expansion – lots of bits, tough decisions. Actually this game did not get a lot of play time from my group but I personally like it because of its design. Perhaps I have some personal liking for micro-management of things, getting this and this so that I can get that, and after getting that, I can therefore score how many points etc.

12. Indonesia – This also does not get a lot of game time but like 1856, I love the mechanics, I like fiddling with bits (perhaps is a reason why I like Le Havre too). And I love economic games which this game provides so amply. A wonderful, wonderful game. I wish I can play more of it but like 1856, the long game time is a problem.

13. Die Macher – One of the favourite of our group. Everytime there is an election or by-election, we want to play it. Have played it many times now and each time, it was fun and engaging, and the game after-taste is something to be savoured.

14. Puerto Rico – classic euro. Choices. Optimization. This game plays fast, provide meaningful actions and decisions. Open information game.

15. The Settlers of Catan – My wife’s favourite game. I don’t really think it’s that good but as a game to introduce people to play or to play a light game with family and friends, this game is good. Given a choice, I will not automatically want to play this game. It is good with the Cities and Knights expansion but since I am not a fan of this game, I am not keeping that expansion and I keep this base game purely for playing a light game (actually, I am more happy and feel that using the Agricola family game to introduce players to the game is more effective).

16. Shogun – If we want to play a war-like game, it will be shogun. Interesting mechanics, attractive components. Well designed. One of our group’s favourites.

17. Sid Meier’s Civilization (2010 edition) – Good civilization building game although it can get lengthy. But interesting game and scratch that civilization building itch in us.

18. Stone Age – easy to understand mechanics. Interesting game for casual gamers. Fast. My brothers and sisters love this game and requested it to be played repeatedly during CNY. Definitely great family game.

19. Through the Ages – one of the best card driven games I have played. In my opinion, a much better civilization game compared to Sid Meier’s Civilization above. But it is a long game and not very popular with our group. I would want to play this game more often. I admire its design and gameplay.

20. Ticket to Ride – Great family game. My mom likes it. My wife likes it (maybe because she won by a mile!). Great for casual gamers. I am keeping it for that purpose only.

21. Twilight Struggle – One of the best games out there. I really like this game. Those that I played with love this game too. Superb design. The only game I rate that is near to Go. Delightful, interesting, rewarding.

22. Wealth of Nations and its expansions – This game is one of the better economic games out there. Great player interaction as well. Each time I play this game, I feel really nice. Not with the War Cloud expansion though. I didn’t think this game needed that expansion. The base game alone feels cut-throat enough. One of the jewels out there.

I have two more games coming my way, i.e. Automobile and Shipyard, which should arrive tomorrow. I suspect these two are keepers but I will have to try it out with the group and see how these goes.

I may sell off Le Havre and Sid Meier’s Civilization from this list in the near future though.

I would like to sell all of them at as a bundle package. There are 42 games in this list and I will be willing to let them go as a package for RM6,000. As a matter of fact, I will be very much reluctant to sell piecemeal as I will be bound to be left with some games that I cannot get rid of (although all the games in this list are really, really good games…just that I do not have the time to do justice to them now) but I am willing to break the parcel up to smaller bits of perhaps 10 games each, but the games in each parcel will be determined by me and the average price of course will be higher than if you buy the whole lot of 42 games. Just let me know what games you are interested in and I will parcel them for you and discuss about the price.

The game list are as follows:

1 At the Gates of Loyang (2009)
2 Axis & Allies 1942 Edition (2009)
3 A Brief History of the World (2009)
4 Catan: Cities & Knights (1998)
5 Chicago Express (2008)
6 Citadels (2000)
7 Confucius (2008)
8 Container (2007)
9 Container: The Second Shipment (2008)
10 Cyclades (2009)
11 Dominant Species (2010)
12 Founding Fathers (2010)
13 Genoa (2001)
14 Goa (2004)
15 El Grande (1995)
16 Hansa Teutonica (2009)
17 Homesteaders (2009)
18 Imperial 2030 (2009)
19 In the Year of the Dragon (2007)
20 Inca Empire (2010)
21 Labyrinth: The War on Terror, 2001-? (2010)
22 Liberté (2001)
23 Perikles (2006)
24 Power Grid (2004)
25 Power Struggle (2009)
26 The Princes of Florence (2000)
27 Race for the Galaxy (2007)
28 Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs Imperium (2009)
29 Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm (2008)
30 The Republic of Rome (1990)
31 Rise of Empires (2009)
32 The Scepter of Zavandor (2004)
33 Steam (2009)
34 Steam Barons (2009)
35 Struggle of Empires (2004)
36 Tide of Iron (2007)
37 Tigris & Euphrates (1997)
38 Tinners’ Trail (2008)
39 Twilight Imperium (Third Edition) (2005)
40 Twilight Imperium (Third Edition): Shattered Empire (2006)
41 Warlords of Europe (2010)
42 Wasabi! (2008)

You can drop me a mail at hdoong at yahoo dot com for offer and discussion. If there are more than one offer, then the highest bidder will be the winner.

Thanks!

When we talk about the Soul, it is inevitable that it is closely linked to Religion for without religion, there is no need for a Soul. The purpose for the existence of a Soul is many-fold but the most important of all is that this Soul transcends our physical existence, and thus is something eternal. In a way, it is a great concept because our existence do not end with the expiry of our physical being and as such, so are the rewards and punishments for the acts we have done in this world via our physical existence. It satisfy our need to have an eternal life, to be greater than just current mere existence, as well as a great carrot and stick mechanism to make sure that we behave. It is the great Santa Claus for Mankind.

For all these, therefore, Mankind needs to keep his/her Soul clean and pure in order to live a blameless life, and thus reaps eternal rewards when the Savior rides in the rainbow from the sky and such. This is the most simplistic way to look at it.

However, at another level, the Soul serves as a great concept in our current worldly life. What I meant is the Soul gives us strength to face the trials and tribulations of life, which we will face inevitably. Without this strength, it is hard to get on day after day in the face of adversity and set-backs. Everyone needs to have a certain pillar to draw strength from and this Soul is a great power provider. The Soul provides a sense of security and comfort, a certain peace. In short, the Soul radiates very positive energy when the owner of the soul believes his/her Soul is clean and pure. And as everyone knows, positive energy begets positive energy and good things will start to happen in one’s life.

But the ultimate question is, does the Soul really exist or is it just a concept stemming from our own psychological needs? Do the Soul really reside in our body and then leave us (to reincarnate or go to Heaven or Hell or wherever) when our physical being expires or is it just a creation of our mind, which will cease to exist when our physical existence expires? Or is the Soul just a form of energy that is within us and when we expire, this energy leaves us and transform into another form of energy, since energy cannot be created nor destroyed? And if it is an energy, how is this energy different from other forms of energy such as heat and electricity?

Since time immemorial, Mankind is actually quite a humble species in that they acknowledge that they are not in full control of all the elements in the world that we live in. As such, they worship the gods of sea, wind, sun, tree, stone, etc. etc. in the hope that they will favor them and thus give them good luck and make their life easier. From hunter-gatherer related gods, mankind progressed into agriculture related gods as they progressed from hunter-gatherers to farmers. As societies becomes more and more complex, various higher level gods are imagined until the ultimate “realization” of the one God. Then there are no other gods but God.

With the creations of gods, the creation of the Soul is inevitable as Mankind begins to ask what they are made of, where they come from and where they will go hereafter. As societies becomes bigger and bigger, rules and regulations need to be established to govern the society as close monitoring is no longer possible as societies became bigger. And when it grew bigger still, some sort of remote control monitoring system needs to be in place so that everyone do good and bad guys are punished, their crime recorded by invisible eyes up above. And for those who got away from punishments in this life, there is comfort in knowing that the criminal will be punished even if his physical existence expired in this world. That was really great comforting thoughts and encouraged everyone to behave.

However, in Buddhism, at least the Theravada tradition, they do not believe in the existence of the Soul as Gautama Buddha reportedly asked his disciples wherefore the Soul resides in the body. But the idea of transcendental punishment and rewards is still present in the Buddhistic philosophy via the theory of Karma where good deeds are rewarded with good rewards or good reincarnations, etc. And the subject of this reincarnation is again, to me at least, not substantiated with logical arguments. And asked about all these things that humans cannot logically understand and perceive, the Buddha just simply said that we do not need to know. Notice that He did not say yes or no.

Perhaps like Kant said, transcendental ideas are by nature not understandable by human beings simply because it transcends our understanding and the capacity of our brain power. It is fruitless and meaningless to talk about it and the only way to work on it is to have faith in it. This is perhaps true and is perhaps why early Chinese philosophers such as Confucius and Lao Tzu did not talk about the Soul, but merely the Way (or Tao) of Heaven. And here it also gets interesting when the concept of God first started as Shang-di (Heavenly King) to Tien (Heaven). Perhaps from one God whose image is like Human and all powerful to a Concept of Heaven only. Not until Buddhism made a big impact in China did they have again the idea of human-like gods.

So, coming back to this concept of Soul and it’s relevance in our modern and future society. There is no doubt in my mind that the idea that a real Soul exist and resides in our body and will move on after we die is an important idea and I think billions of people in world live and believe in its existence. However, to each their own, some people also do not believe at all in it and lives a purely existential life. But what I believe is that the “Soul” is a culmination of our own self-inquiry into the nature of our own beings. Our philosophy and world-view, a way and guide for us to live and face the trial and tribulations of life. A philosophical concept attained purely by self-reflection and meditation, from study of self and others, from the exploration and learning of the world around us. And thus building character and self confidence and strength to live a blameless life, to face problems, to have the ability and wisdom to appreciate our own life, family, friends and the world surrounding us, to live a good and happy life, hopefully benefiting and also learning from everyone who comes into contact with us, if possible contribute to the betterment of Mankind and finally, the wisdom and ability to be able to let go.

Hmmm… well, there goes my lunch time.

7. Best Movie

Every year, I have a top movie listing and I discuss and talk and preach endlessly about movies. But 2010 is a sad year for my movie world. It is the Dark Ages. I have not watched as many movies as I wished, where my previous record peaked at 27 movies in a week. Talking about 27 movies in a week, I do not wish to do that again nor set a higher record because I found that it diminished my enjoyment of each of the movies. I used to have a habit of watching a movie once and then a second time to take notes. Watching 27 movies in a week is work. Not really enjoyment, especially so, not doing any justice to the movies.

As anyone who has been reading my blog for the past few years knows, I do not have much good things to say about Hollywood movies although I do acknowledge that some of them are very creative and technologically superior and can be immensely entertaining. Take INCEPTION for example. It is a superbly creative, well made, well executed, well told story. But it didn’t hit my heart. But make no mistake. I admire the movie. I will remember INCEPTION as an exceptional movie, which I will recommend people to go and watch. But I will recommend DEPARTURES ten times out of ten if I were to choose between INCEPTION and DEPARTURES. (DEPARTURES is not a 2010 movie, however. I am just giving an example). For me, a movie has to shake my being. It has to go right through me. As another example, many critics and film lovers will cite CITIZEN KANE as the best movie ever. I appreciate that and I appreciate why they think that way. But CITIZEN KANE did not pierce right through me. It is like INCEPTION. Well made, well executed, immensely creative, etc. However cheap you will accuse me of, I will recommend IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE over CITIZEN KANE ten times out of ten.

By now, you will realize that I am beating round the bush. I am supposed to tell the world the best movie I watched in 2010. And by now you will also realize that I do not have a best movie for 2010. I really don’t. I have not watched enough movies and those that I watched did not pierce me in the heart. So, 2010 – bummer year for movies!

8. Best New Skill Attempt

I have attempted to learn Japanese in 2010 and have gotten on to some speed. Little by little I am learning some more and more Japanese words. I have purchased the Rocket Japanese Course, an online course which is a superb resource. That lasted for about 3 months. Then the house renovation thing came into the picture again and I stopped. Luckily, the Rocket Japanese Course is a lifetime course and I can access the lessons any time I like, for the rest of my life (provided, of course, if the company still exist). As a guy said in a WKW movie, everything has an expiry date. So no such thing as forever. In 2011, I will re-start the Japanese course and hopefully can converse with our Japanese friends in the Japan Club 100% in the Japanese Language. Gambate kudasai!

9. Best Web Initiative

In 2010, I have started an online website for people to learn Go. It is an extension of the beginner material that I have written for the Malaysia Weiqi Association. It is a syllabus for beginners and the website is to supplement the course. Since it started, I have received many feedback regarding the site. But alas! again, the house renovation came into the picture again and I had to stop after a few lessons. I will resume that work in 2011 for the benefit of all the people that wants to learn Go and also for myself, to strengthen my own knowledge and fundamentals of Go.

10. Best New Best Friend

Dolby my dog. haha.

Well, seems like 2010 is the year of the house. Now that the dust is settling, I am looking forward to another exciting 2011. Let’s hope everything goes well.

However, recently I got inspired again reading my geeky friend’s blog which she kept up to date. Perhaps it’s a good thing to stay away from Facebook but then again, we would have interacted much more frequently if she posts on Facebook :p

Anyways, to cut the long story short, I will perhaps start blogging after getting inspired by her post where she described her “10 Highlights of 2010″ post. I started to think of my 10 highlights of 2010 and had trouble doing so. 2010 has been quite a troubling year for me, both good and bad, and also the not so good. If there is a chart, I would have very much fallen in the culture scale, especially. But there are peaks in other charts as well. Perhaps I should do an account now, since I think I owe myself a new post in this new year or 2011.

So, here is my 10 highlights of 2010:

1. BOARDGAMES

Since starting this hobby in earnest at the beginning of 2010, I have pursued this hobby intensely which is very satisfying despite its negative effect on my health (due to all the late nights playing) and pocket (the games that I bought). I have made some great new friends and cemented old friendships which I treasure immensely. I play boardgames almost every weekend and have now in my collection more than 70 boardgames. Besides friendships, the other most enjoyable part of this hobby is the exploration of each new game. To be honest, it is this feeling of exploration and learning that kept me going back and getting new games. It’s like enjoying a book or music, the exploration, the joy, the experience. I love this feeling.

However, my Go suffered quite a bit, not entirely due to boardgames but also due to the house renovation. I have not played as many games as I would like and I think I didn’t improve at all this year. Perhaps I have even gotten worse in Go. As they say, you cannot have everything, can you?

2. New Home & Car

One of my major attachment in 2010 is the renovation of the new house that I bought. I have spent countless hours and effort in the renovation which took almost half a year to complete, and then after completion, there is still so many other things to add-on to it. The house is still not 100% ready as I typed this but it is more of a work-in-progress. And my dog Dolby is not giving me an easy time either. Taking care of him required a lot more time and effort that I initially imagined.

Also, as one other development, I have also been lobbying my company for a new car and eventually got it.

3. Best Book

I have not read as many books as I wished I had and I thought the best book I read in the year was Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD. I was proven wrong when I read WHY THE WEST RULES…. FOR NOW by Ian Morris. This book completely blew my mind and gave me a superb perspective of the history of our human race. A superbly written book which reads like a historical novel. Very engaging and enlightening.

4. Best Concert

Hands down – Mahler’s 3rd Symphony. Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra with the Birmingham City Chorus. Mahler sits in a very high place in my heart and mind and I think I have listened to enough of Mahler’s 3rd symphony to be able to spot a bad session. Contrary to my initial fear of MPO’s ability to pull of another Mahler (although they did a wonderful Mahler 9th – but that was under the special spell of Maestro Benjamin Zander), it did really well. I went with Philip and Alex and I was happy that they both like it. Mahler’s symphonies are not the friendliest music on Earth and it normally takes some “pre-education”, for lack of a better word, to prepare the listener for what is to come. But now I find this completely unnecessary as Mahler’s music spoke out directly. Of course, there are many, many layers to his music and thee a book-length studies of his works but ultimately, it is the experience in the symphony hall that counts. I remembered how my tears flowed during each of the three Mahler 9th session I attended. It just got you emotionally and all that studying and analysis went out the window. Mahler is great.

5. Best Thing That Happened

My parents came down to live with me.

6. Best Newly-Found Restaurant

I have finally found a place near my house that has excellent quality food and has a great price point. It is located in Mahkota Cheras and the name of the place is called, you guessed it, “Temptations”. The chef, Mr. Mohan, is one person who has the passion to sit down with his customers and explaining and sharing cooking tips with his customers. The decor is simple but relaxing. There is no pretension in the place at all. There is no need to because the food itself speaks volumes and the price truly affordable. I enjoy the sirloin steak in his specially made red wine sauce a lot. You can see a lot of creativity at work there. I will usually also have a mushroom soup made up of an assortment of wild mushrooms, well creamed and served with a freshly made garlic bread. I also love his chicken chop and his spaghetti are to die for. A creative chef, superb food in a friendly and relaxing atmosphere with a damn good price, and near my house. What a find!

That’s all for now… to be continued maybe….

I like boardgames that has multiple paths to victory, i.e. there are many ways to win, not only one scripted way only. In a way, I think this is how I prefer to view life too. There are many ways to live life, not just one way. I feel lucky to have close friends that have very differing points of view (these groups of friends do not know each other… they may have seen them perhaps during my wedding or during the house-warming but they do not mix).

One group of friends are really money minded. They are really passionate about accumulating as much wealth as possible, doing business and all and they are rather successful. They buy land for development, they buy fast cars (e.g. one guys is contemplating the Ferrari 430 or something), they go out to socialise to enlarge their network, when they go overseas, they go to “nice” places, etc. In short, their whole being is dedicated to making money and spending them on properties and fast cars. Seldom do I hear them talking about their family (except for bad-mouthing their wife) or other hobbies or passion, not to mention such things as love for the environment or protection of animals. They will love the environment and protect animals only if these activities profits them. This is one bunch of friends I have.

On the other hand, I have friends who are idealistic, loves art and culture and sacrifice material comfort for the arts, for the environment, for other human beings. They admire music, or movies, or painting, or stage shows etc. and can converse competently and interestingly about them. They go around and saw the world, travel on budget and go to places that bruises their bodies, just so they can experience the world. And they are really passionate people.

Then of course, there are a bunch of friends who let event lead them. They do what they do everyday, enjoy their life if they can, put up with the bosses, may do bad things if a chance is presented to them (e.g. commit adultery or steal money), but they are really not bad people per se. They are just being influenced by events, so when a good event present themselves, they ride on them and if there are bad events, they go down with them. They manage to live by, even can afford some nice things like a nice holiday or house, but they are that, i.e. they do not have something fixed in their mind that they are passionate about. They just live life as presented to them.

But all of them are okay, they live the life they want and still win. There are multiple paths to victory and no one path is the TRUE path, i guess. And just like in games, perhaps there are victory points and each one will have to choose their path and earn their own victory points, those points that matters to them, those points that they can relate to. Forcing one’s victory points condition on another person that cannot relate to it is just not right.

The above quote is probably one of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s most popular. However, what got me hooked when I started reading him in my teenage years was this, “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty.” How true this you would think and how much courage and willpower this inspires when it is understood. Emerson was the first author to inspire me in a huge way, and then followed by Stephen R. Covey. But those are teenage days when one tries to find his identity.

What inspire me most nowadays are the stories of people’s exploits, how they live the life that they want and get the most of their short time on earth. Just like Hajime in SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN, one of Haruki Murakami’s darkest novels. It is inspiring to read about Hajime’s life and one would think what a life he had lived, warts and all. Compared to the Siberian farmers who always dreamed of what lies West of the Sun or Shimamoto’s curiosity of what lies South of the Border, one needs to breakout sometimes, explore the world, and find their own answers. Clocking in day in day out in a rat job cannot be something inspiring, not to mention fun to do. So what is this little thing that you are looking for all your life? When you are old, what is this little story that you can tell?

At quite a young age, I always seem to imagine my own funeral, which was at once scary (not to mention a huge taboo!) but also quite fun to do. It just struck me later that I am not the only one and many people do that too, and I was amazed when I read that Gustav Mahler, the greatest symphonic composer in the history of mankind, in my humble and biased opinion, did the same thing too. One would imagine who will come, will that ex-lover come? will that hated enemy come? Which friend will come and which friend will just give an excuse not to come? What will they say? Will they cry? What kind of life would they say I have lived. It is something like Kanji Watanabe’s funeral in Akira Kurosawa’s IKIRU. What a great film that is!

Life is a series of existential choices, or so people like Jean Paul Sartre will say. Condemned to be free they say. But is this really so? In my opinion, yes a person can choose whatever he or she wants to do but must live with the consequences of their actions. That’s why Sartre said we are “condemned”. Sometimes, the consequence of one’s action can be very serious and can hurt people. Like Hajime’s story, he didn’t realize that his action can hurt someone so deep they can never recover. Some actions will lead to death itself. In this context, are we really free? No. We are bound by certain responsibilities towards people. Towards ourselves. Even towards Mankind and the world. It is never as simple as do what you want and ignore the consequences of one’s actions.

Well, I don’t know why I am ranting but just something in my mind. It’s good to blog it out. Now, go get a life.

But I am delighted when I received a message from an ex-colleague and dear friend who is currently there and her message put a smile on my face when she said, “Very happy B-). Lots of books! Can sit here for whole day. Bought tickets for The Hurt Locker too – ah ~~ :-D”. Gosh, I can feel her happiness and excitement! And yes, I wanted to be there too!!

Of course, my geeky friend who is now working in Hong Kong excites me a lot too when she sent to me the films that she is going to watch, a long list of movies that I would have wanted to watch too!

Too much excitement and not much action will do my heart no good. Haha. But I am thrilled and happy just thinking that such a place exist on Earth and that I have friends who enjoy what I enjoy too, and they are such dear friends.

Come to think of it, in Kuala Lumpur, I don’t seem to be able to find that feeling I get whenever I go to Kubrick, i.e. the very happy feeling, as if on drugs, of going through their DVDs for sale and picking them up like buying vegetables in the market only to realize that I can only afford 20 or so DVDs and had to decide whether to take that Tarkovsky or that Ghatak. Hard choice I tell you. And then to browse their collection of books, then sit down for a cup of coffee while awaiting for that Japanese movie to start screening. What a wonderful feeling that is.

Of course, in KL you can basically do the same thing, go to Speedy Video then go to MPH then go to Mc Donald’s and then go to GSC for a movie. But damn, compared to the Kubrick experience, it’s worlds apart. And what is the difference? Well, for sure the atmosphere but definitely, the selection and quality of the goods in trade, the variety and choice, the depth.

The nearest I get to that feeling was to go to that little shop in Jaya 33 and browse their superb collection of DVDs, then go to Subway for a good sandwich.

I would really hope to find a place like Kubrick in KL and if not, hopefully to be able to build a place like that. But to do that will cost a lot of money but the returns, if any, is going to be slim. I doubt there are enough people interested in a place like this to make it profitable, so anyone who wants to do it must do it only out of passion and of course a deep pocket. But I would really love to run a place like that. Let’s hope I strike the lottery and get the money to do it. That will be awesome!

Confucius the movie is supposedly about the life and teachings of Confucius and all the trials and tribulations that he had to face in a society so brutal and hostile as the Spring and Autumn period in China (the time of Sun Tzu) which immediately precede the Warring States era, one of the most hostile era in Chinese history, until Shih Huang Ti unified all the states and formed the Qin dynasty, the first Unified Chinese dynasty as they more or less appear today, albeit expanded later (and where the name China supposedly came – or is it supposed to be Qina? hmmm).

To now realize that a person as Confucius to be able to preach and practice the idea of a “Gentleman”, the “Superior Man”, based on the ethical theories of rites and rituals, empathy and reciprocity (do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you), righteousness, etc. in an era of barbaric conquest is indeed something great. To put order back to a society so barren in order, to preach for the respect for people and trust and righteousness in an era where everybody is doing the opposite, these are great teachings indeed.

Of course, Confucius is no idiot as we can see in the movie. He is really good in archery and military deployments, and as we can also hear from the dialogue, he is well versed with Sun Tzu’s Art of War too (although I am not sure if he is really so – but I think a person of his learning, he would have known) – e.g. quotes from the Nine Terrains chapter is obvious.

So did the movie live up to its expectations? To many people, the movie seems slow and it dragged on and on. At a certain time in the movie, I find myself looking at my watch, which is not a good sign and I do feel the same, the movie is a bit draggy, and unnecessarily so. One could easily think of the movie A BATTLE OF WITS (which I talked about here). In that movie, we see yet another philosophy, Mo Tzu’s Mohism, in action. Mo Tzu’s time is after Confucius, and the peace-loving nature of that philosophy is similar to Confucius although the similarity ends there. Mo Tzu disagreed with Confucius’ hierarchical society and over attachment to rites and rituals and instead preached a philosophy of universal love where everyone is equal.

The production quality of the movie is very good and given the big budget movies nowadays (there is so much money in China for production!), high production quality is a given nowadays. Anyways, I would think that this is a good movie to go to if you would like to know a bit about Confucius and his life but if you already know about him, there is nothing much that this movie can offer. Maybe you would just want to watch it because it is a movie about Conficius and that it is quite a good production. But beware of the yawns.

There is something missing from the movie, and I think that is a smooth narrative flow and purpose. After the movie, what I felt was the movie is like a pictorial slideshow just to showcase Confucius’ teachings, and for that, the movie felt artificial. So if you want to go and watch it, go only for four reasons, 1. You want to know something about Confucius and knows next to nothing about him, 2. You like historical movies and likes well produced movies, 3. You are a huge Chow Yun Fat fan, 4. You’ve got nothing better to do and got lots of cash.

Other than that, don’t.

Some general strategy:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/printerfriendly/90092

Board Game Geek page:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/423/1856

In short, the general feeling is real men do macho stuffs and playing board games? Oh no, real men don’t do sissy stuffs like playing board games, playing or enjoying music, reading books, cooking, etc. Only losers do such stuffs because they are not up to the macho competition in the tough world. Haha.

After all, we are still cavemen although the world around us have changed. We still hunt for food, we are still very much area control animals, men still wants to ride in the fastest horse, men still have the primordial instinct to spread their seeds to as far as possible and to as many females as possible to ensure the survival and widespread of his genes etc. All these are still true and if you strip all excesses in the current world, that is what one sees.

But all those aside, this is why I love board games:

1. It is competitive.

All games are by nature competitive, whether one competes against others or compete against himself. For example, in the game of Go, my favourite “board game” and in my humble opinion, the best board game in the entire human history, is extremely competitive in nature. Go simulates the human instincts for area control but in a very human manner, i.e. to win a game of Go, one has to be more strategic than the other player but the tactical, hand-to-hand fighting is also very important. However, normally, the player that is more strategic wins, and the way he wins does not necessarily involve a lot of hand-to-hand fight. In Go, one can employ a multitude of strategy, and a lot of these strategies have close similarity to military strategies. As such, Go is a good representation of the human endeavor to acquire and control territories, and as we all know, this involve warfare, life and death.

Other board games too offers competition in a variety of intensity. Some games require lesser competitive intensity while others require higher level of competitive intensity. I normally enjoy games that are of the higher competitive intensity type but I also enjoy, once in a while, low intensity board games.

2. It Offers More Genuine Friendships

Well, I know that by writing this, I may get flamed big time. However, I am thinking of other games or sports such as golf where a lot of people play golf because they want something more than a game out of it. For many golfers I know, they play golf because it is a “required” skill for their career. Companies pay instructors to teach their staff golf for this reason. And although there are many genuine friendships being established in the game of golf, one is always suspicious. Same as in other “high-flyer” interests.

However, because board game are generally seen as more inferior as per my earlier paragraph, many high-flyer wannabes, many of those who wants to climb higher in the social strata will avoid it and would want to spend their valuable time on activities that will enhance their social status or help them to achieve greater heights, such as learning how to play golf or memorizing and researching their Formula One cars or drivers, or trying out various “spa” locations for “good stuffs” so that they can bring their customers to, etc.

As such, the very nature of this will filter out board gamers as the more genuine friendship kind. They play board games because they love the games, not because the game will bring them wealth or status.

3. Board Games Brings Friends and Family Together, and it’s lots of Fun!

I think this is self explanatory. I find that board games really can bring people closer to each other by spending time together. And it is a lot of fun playing board games together, even if one loses.

4. Board Games are Ingenious

Although some board games really sucks, many board games are a brilliant piece of creative work. I am always amazed by how people can create a good board game and all the creativity it requires. And because board games invariably involve rules, it combines both left brain and right brain to be able to design a good board game. Creating and designing a board game is a lot of fun because you have all the freedom to determine how the game plays. You can set the rules, the mechanics and you are solely responsible for the playability of the game. When one does that, it gives one an immense sense of satisfaction.

5. Board Games Trains the Mind, and Trains Character

Although as mentioned in 1 above whereby it was mentioned that board games are competitive, it is worthwhile to mention here again that board games trains the mind. Many board games are simulations of real life situations or events because life itself is a game if we look at it on the macro level. For example, there are games that simulates the efficiency in running a company, or running a factory. There are many principles in life that can be applied to the game to be successful in the game and vice-versa. There are games that simulates warfare and strategic thinking. There are games that simulates negotiations and diplomacy etc. In short, board games are actually simulations and as such, the lessons learned in playing a board game can be applied to real life situations when one arises.

Also, board games are a test to one’s character. It also trains and develop one’s character. In fact, I can see most of my friend’s and family’s characters just by the way they play board games. And via this method, I learn to see myself from a distance, and how I react during the game and I see myself. And I try to improve on areas that I feel I have flaws (for example, I must be more kind and not make others suffer… hahahahahaha).

Well, I think the above are a few of the things on why I love board games. Of course board games have their flaws too. The most glaring is that it is not physical at all and prolonged playing will definitely ensure the decline of one’s physical fitness. So have a balanced lifestyle is important.